Taylor O'Neill prepares a drink at O-Face Doughnuts in the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. Additional stores and shops, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, are slated to open in the coming weeks and months. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The office space of Sonny Ahuja, of the Downtown Project's Small Business team, and owner of O-Face Doughnuts is seen during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Doughnuts are made at O-Face Doughnuts in the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. Additional stores and shops, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, are slated to open in the coming weeks and months. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Tina Wichmann, left, and Craig Sean Palacios, founders of Bunnyfish Studios, stand on the upstairs level during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Shane Stuart, owner of Grass Roots juice bar, stands in the location's space as construction goes on in the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores, including a Bikram yoga studio and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

People mingle in the lobby area of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, as construction goes on in the building in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Taylor O'Neill serves up a drink at O-Face Doughnuts in the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. Additional stores and shops, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, are slated to open in the coming weeks and months. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Sonny Ahuja of the Downtown Project's Small Business team and owner of O-Face Doughnuts is seen during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Painters work in the space slated to be a Bikram yoga studio during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

A man walks by the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, as construction goes on in the building in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Craig Sean Palacios, left, and Tina Wichmann, founders of Bunnyfish Studios, stand on the upstairs level during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores, including a juice bar, Bikram yoga studio, and floral shop, as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Patrons order and mingle at O-Face Doughnuts in the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. Additional stores and shops, including a juice bar, a Bikram yoga studio, and a floral shop. Office spaces upstairs, are slated to open in the coming weeks and months. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Work goes on in the rooftop space slated to be Carson Kitchen, a restaurant by Kerry Simon, during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Bud & Vine Co-Founder John Bunch poses in the store's space during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Work goes on in the rooftop space slated to be Carson Kitchen, a restaurant by Kerry Simon, during a tour of the former John E. Carson Hotel building, 124 S. 6th Street, in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, May 30, 2014. The building is slated to see several stores as well as office space upstairs, open in the coming weeks and months. O-Face Doughnuts and Black Spade Tattoo are currently operating in the building. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Meanwhile, a flower shop co-owner with the name John Bunch — yes, that’s his real name — is preparing to open Bud &Vine on Tuesday.

And then, there’s the juiceman — Shane Stuart — fashioning a cozy 380-square-foot nook of a juice and smoothie bar, Grass Roots, for a mid-June debut.

Ahuja, Bunch and Stuart are all small-business owners in downtown Las Vegas’ newest commercial hub — the rehabbed former John E. Carson Hotel at South Sixth Street and Carson Avenue, not too far from Container Park and down the block from the popular La Comida Mexican restuarant.

The renovation of what was once a 65-room hotel, circa 1955, is the pride and joy of the Downtown Project, which bought the 19,000-square-foot building in 2012. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is the force behind Downtown Project, a $350 million initiative to cultivate startups and new businesses in downtown.

On Friday, construction workers were busy renovating the building, where Downtown Project is renting 11 micro-offices for $500 a month and commercial space for $2 a square foot.

The sole commercial holdover is Black Spade Tattoo, which pre-dates Downtown Project’s purchase of the hotel.

The building features a small courtyard for customers to drink juice or munch on doughnuts and will have no external signage, except for window graphics and the original “John E. Carson Hotel no vacancy” sign.

Carson Kitchen will also have a rooftop bar as part of its casual fine-dining restaurant.

Ahuja, who invested about $200,000 to open his 12-employee doughnut shop, said the building’s history of more than six decades helped draw him to the downtown space.

“There are not a lot of buildings where you get the history with the building. The business feeds off the character of the building,” Ahuja said. “I also like the downtown urban feel.”

The tenants are also business colleagues, sharing valuable intel on everything from vendors and linen services to bookkeeping and human resource topics.

In fact, Ahuja, who is also a partner in Bin 702 wine bar in Container Park, is also mentoring Stuart, who is opening the juice bar.

Staurt is a pro on juices — he created the juice bar concept for the Greens &Proteins restaurants — but is gleaning valuable tips from Ahuja on starting his own grab-and-go business. Stuart said he won a $200,000 startup grant from Downtown Project to launch the juice bar. His business partner is Nichole Hester.

Bunch said he planned on opening the flower shop in Container Park, but the retail space there was too small. The old hotel building space was a better fit, he noted.

It’s taking $140,000 to launch the business, Bunch said.

Downtown Project is also planning to rehab the old Eden’s Hotel next door.

A grand opening for the old Carson Hotel building will be held in late June, said Kim Schaefer, Downtown Project communications director.

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